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Ryan Seacrest Announces He'll be Hosting 'American Idol' Reboot

By Jackie Willis 6:34 AM PDT, July 20, 2017

Ryan Seacrest wanted fans to hear it from him first that he's officially returning to American Idol.

The 42-year-old TV star -- who hosted the show on Fox for 15 seasons -- announced on Thursday's Live With Kelly and Ryan that he will be hosting the reboot of the singing competition show on ABC. "I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a 15-year relationship, and then -- for a reason you don’t really know -- you break up!" Seacrest said of his return. "And I thought, 'Gosh, it would be great to get back together at some point.'"

Seacrest also recalled auditioning for the host of Idol back before the show premiered on Fox in 2002. "I was terrified, and I was a terrible auditioner," he quipped. "I’m not good at rehearsals. I’m not good at auditioning."

"I stood in a room with a bunch of executives and I thought, 'What’s this audition going to be?' They didn’t give us a script," he continued. "They said, ‘Stand in front of us. Here’s the scenario: A singer has just finished singing, their mother has just passed away, you have to go in after the judges have criticized them and figure out what to say and get us to commercial in 90 seconds. Go!’"

Katy Perry -- who will be a judge on the Idol reboot -- was thrilled to hear of Seacrest's return to the beloved show. "I’m spicy, @RyanSeacrest is seasoned! All the right ingredients are coming together on @AmericanIdol," she tweeted. "Have YOU auditioned? #TheNextIdol"

Seacrest officially announcing that he'll be the host of Idol comes over two months after it was revealed that the show would be returning to TV on ABC. It's still not known if the program will be relocating to New York City, where Seacrest currently resides during the week, or if it will remain filming in Los Angeles.

In May, a source close to FremantleMedia -- the production company behind Idol -- told ET that it's "entirely possible to do American Idol in New York City."

"It could be more costly, but worth it," the source noted at the time. "Everyone knows that Ryan is the glue that keeps the show together. A reboot without him is almost unthinkable."